


Presumed Missing

by BigBadLittleRed



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: AU, Anxiety Attacks, F/M, Flashbacks, Graphic Violence, M/M, PTSD, Protective Stiles, Rape Recovery, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sexual Abuse, Suicidal Thoughts, Traumatized Derek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-02
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2018-03-04 21:26:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 12,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3090590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigBadLittleRed/pseuds/BigBadLittleRed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seventeen year old Derek Hale has been missing for almost ten months. After a huge fire at his family home, they come to the conclusion that young Derek has been kidnapped. The fire was deliberate, many have perished, and Derek is gone. Kidnapping isn't the only conclusion people have come up with. </p><p>When Derek shows up, injured and confused, things are taken out of proportion by some. The town of Beacon Hills has been divided, those with and against the Hale. Meanwhile, Derek is trying his best to deal with the things that have occurred in the past few months. Stiles and his father are doing the best they can to fix everything... But will that be enough?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Search Is Over

It's been nine months and thirteen days since Derek Hale was announced missing. It's been nine months and fifteen days since the Hale Fire Tragedy. What started as a normal evening, ended in disaster. John Stilinski, the Sheriff at Beacon Hills Police Department got a call about a fire. The Hale Family was very popular amongst those in the town, respectable people. Their house had caught fire, which quickly turned into an all out blaze. After showing up to a charred out and smoking house, they searched for bodies.

Of course considering it was so late in the evening, everyone was home. Five young children, a teen's body, and four adults. Talia and Jonathan Hale, Talia's brother Peter, Peter's wife Alice. Then there were Peter and Alice's children, a boy and a girl named Samantha and Jacob. Talia and Jonathan's children, Laura, Cora, and their youngest Elliot.. But one body was missing. The body of Derek Hale, the second oldest of Jonathan and Talia.

Once the fire was proclaimed arson, Derek Hale was reported missing. Then started the town feud, was Derek really kidnapped? Or did he start the fire himself, then flee? Stiles came home to tell John about how many kids at school had heard their parents talking of Derek setting the fire in a rage against his family. It was ridiculous that people could be so accusing, considering Derek was a nice kid. He made decent grades, was on the school basketball team, and had lots of friends.

 

One night in late October, the search was over.

"Unit 1, this is Patrol 569. We have a sighting of a possible Missing Persons, over."

Stiles reached for the radio, only to have his hand smacked away by his father. "This is Unit One responding, I'm going to need a confirmation. A name perhaps? Over." He questions, and there's silence for a few moments.

"Derek Hale, over." John flipped on his sirens and pulled out of the parking lot of the Drive Through they were parked in and headed towards the station.

"Derek Hale! I told you they'd find him!" Stiles crows with a smile, he'd said from day 1 that Derek was innocent and they'd find him. His sixteen year old was very hopeful, and this time, he was right.

"Patrol 569, take him to HQ. Over." He tells his radio, and listens to the confirmation while speeding towards the Station. The Sheriff pondered this new information during the drive, his son had unchanging faith in the young man. John himself had started to think that the boy was long gone and on the run. He had begun to question Derek's motives for killing his family, of course he never told Stiles that. With Derek home though, he must be wrong... Derek was innocent, and John had already begun to doubt him. Hell, almost everyone had begun to do so themselves.


	2. Extent Of The Damage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John meets with Derek and they find out that things are worse than they expected.

Derek wasn't sure where he was, just that he was running. Running from her, getting as far away from her as possible. He ran and ran until he wasn't even sure where he'd come from or gone to. Then the police car found him, he went with them without a word.

They bring him to the Station, where he sits in an office in a chair. His hand is on fire, and his body shakes violently. A blanket gets thrown over his shoulders after a few minutes at the station. Derek isn't even sure why, he doesn't think he's cold. Then again, it's sort of hard to notice those things after blocking them out for so long. So he sits in the chair, trembles and shakes, his right hand cradled in his lap carefully. It was throbbing with every beat of his heart, and he couldn't move it.

People kept trying to talk to him, but he couldn't muster up the words to speak. He'd only been able to answer one question, his name. The kind man in the cop car had asked him what his name was, and he had croaked out a soft "Derek." before they'd opened up the door and drove him here. The teen had received a few more, if he was thirsty, if he was injured, if he knew where he was. He just couldn't speak, every time he even thought about it, he couldn't find the words to say.

He's yanked from his thoughts when the door opens, revealing an older man with greying brown hair.

"Well, aren't you a sight young man? We've been looking for you." He says quietly, a small forced smile on his face. Derek stares at him, because what is there to say anyway? Here he was, they'd failed at their job. He'd gotten out on his own, at least he thought he did. Didn't he? The memory was fuzzy, he still wasn't sure what happened.

"My name is John, I'm the Sheriff." The man sits down behind the desk, and Derek focuses on the golden placard on it. Sure enough, his name was on the plaque. Stilinski, an odd name. One he remembered vaguely, from a boy at school. He saw him in the hall, and they shared a Spanish class. Something that starts with an S, something he can't remember.

John's talking to him, he brings his eyes up to meet the older man's.

"You with me?" The man asks, and Derek nods slowly.

"Officer Reynolds and Stuart found you wandering around, did you know where you were?" He questions, and Derek shakes his head.

"Where were you before this? You've been gone for a while, Derek. Ten months is a long time to go missing." He tells him, and Derek feels something begin to tighten in his chest.

Ten months? He'd been gone for ten months?

A hand touches his shoulder and he jerks back, his mind signaling danger and pain. He thinks he screams, but he can't be sure because everything is muffled and he can't breathe. There's a tremendous pressure on his chest and he's gasping for air that he can't seem to find. Everything is black and fuzzy around the edges, and all he can feel is pain. Her voice echoes in his head.

'You're mine. You never forget that.'

He thinks he blacks out, but the last thing he sees, is a young man kneeling over him from above. He's talking but Derek can't focus on his words, only the way his lips move frantically and his brown doe eyes stare down at him with a compassion he hasn't seen in what feels like an eternity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos, Comment, Subscribe? :)


	3. Arrangements

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek awakes from a nightmare in the hospital. Stiles introduces himself, and Derek finds out what's happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a dream of Derek's time with his abuser, including a rape scene. TRIGGER WARNING.

**_Her weight is resting atop his hips, grinding her heat against him. His body is responding, but his mind is attempting to piece everything together._**

**_"St-Sta- ah.. Please, just w-wait a minute.." He gets out, struggling against the zip ties that bind his wrists to the back of his chair._ **

**_"Don't worry about it, honey. You're a boy, you're supposed to like it.." She hums, grinding down on him again. He is, supposed to like it.. But no, he doesn't. He wants to stop, to wait. His mouth is open in an attempt to get in the air that he desperately needs but can't achieve._ **

**_"You look pale, sweetie... Something wrong?" Her eyes are wild in the dark room, glinting and shining with pleasure._**

**_"Plea- Please, just stop." He whimpers, tugging against his restraints while an alarming weight presses down on his chest. He's panting and gasping, struggling wildly but it's no use._ **

**_"What's the matter sweetheart? Don't you like girls?"_ **

Derek screams himself awake, sitting up quickly. A hand touches his shoulder, and he jerks away with a whimper.

"Sorry, sorry.." A soothing voice apologizes, and Derek focuses on his surroundings. The room is dimly lit, but he can smell the antiseptic and other odd smells of a hospital. There's an irritating beeping noise that's rapidly fast but slowing down, and he realizes it's a heart monitor. A woman walks in, looking alarmed, but calms slightly when she sees him.

She's very pretty, in colorful floral scrubs with wavy black hair. He turns to see a young man sitting beside him, looking nervous and awkward. The Stilinski boy from his Spanish class.

"What's going on?" Is all he musters after a moment, and Stiles runs his hand through his messy dark hair.

"You had an anxiety attack at the station and blacked out. Do you remember?" He asks calmly, and Derek does recall that, so he nods.

"Mr. Hale, I'm going to need you to lay back down." The nurse says politely, and he does so, because she might touch him if he doesn't.

"Your wrist is broken, along with two of your fingers." She tells him, pointing down at his arm, where he looks to find a light blue cast on it.

"I said to make it pink, but they said no." The boy next to him says suddenly, and his attention snaps back to him.

"You're in my Spanish class..." He murmurs, and Stiles smirks with a nod.

"Well I was, it's my junior year now. Summer's come and went." He explains quietly, and Derek feels that familiar tightening in his chest.

"Hey, it's all right. Just take a deep breath, concentrate on my voice." The boy says, voice strong and insistent. So he takes a few deep breaths, and starts to calm down a little. "You're going to wear yourself out if you keep panicking like that." He tells him, and Derek nods.

"What's your name?" He asks before he knows to second guess himself. Stiles smiles lightly, leaning back in his chair.

"Stiles Stilinski, son of the Sheriff." He says proudly, a bright smile on his face. Derek finds it quite appealing, he feels his own lips twitch slightly. The nurse is fiddling with some IV bags and Derek notices he's got a needle in his arm, connected to the clear liquid in the bag on the pole to his right. The nurse must see his confusion because she smiles gently and points to the bag.

"Morphine, the good stuff." She smirks like it's an inside joke, and he hears Stiles chuckle to his left. He watches her mess with the little dial thing on the tube leading to his arm.

Suddenly he gets a sort of sleepy feeling that hits him like a ton of bricks, the nurse is talking to Stiles but everything sort of starts to fade out.

-

When he wakes up, he's alone and it's dark. Dark enough to incite some fear, because at first he's not sure where he is. Then he hears the heart monitor picking up and realizes, the nurse from before peeks her head into the room. She reaches around and the lights come on, dim and weak.

"You okay, kiddo?" She asks sweetly, and Derek nods.

"Yeah, just forgot for a second. Didn't know where I was." He murmurs, relaxing back against his pillow.

"Well, you're at Beacon Hills Memorial." She notifies him, just in case it seems necessary. He closes his eyes with a sigh, bringing up his good hand to run through his hair. When he opens them again, the nurse is gone and the lights are still on but not enough to keep him from sleeping. He slips back under in a few minutes, tries not to think too much for the moment.

-

The next time he awakes, Stiles is there again. He's talking to the Sheriff and another man, who's a bit younger.

"You didn't say he woke up before." The other man is saying, and Stiles shrugs.

"He was only lucid for like four minutes. He was exhausted, woke up screaming. That's no state to answer questions." He's glaring at the younger cop, who is returning the gesture.

"All right, but he will have to answer some questions next time he wakes up." The Sheriff settles it, and Stiles nods.

Then they turn and find Derek looking at them, and it's quiet for a moment. Derek hates his mind for racing, for his heart rate to pick up a little. Stiles walks over and sits down, hand reaching for his shoulder before he changes his mind and settles it on the mattress.

"It's all right, my dad just needs to ask some questions." He assures with a small smile, and the man of subject walks over with the other cop in tow.

"Hello Derek, do you remember me?" He asks, and Derek nods.

"You're the Sheriff." He mumbles, and John nods.

"Yes, that I am. I need to ask you a few things, if you get uncomfortable at any time, we can take a break or even stop.. Is that all right with you?" He questions, and Derek nods.

"Okay then, let's begin." He pulls up a chair and sits down.

"What do you remember about the night you went missing?" He asks, and Derek looks down at his sheets.

"Um.. Not a lot.." He whispers, and barely looks back up hesitantly to monitor the Sheriff's reaction.

"Okay, go through the process.. You got home from school.." He makes a gesture with his hand, and Derek looks away again. He feels cornered, trapped, but not necessarily in danger, more like just a feeling of everybody in the world staring at him.

"I got home from school with Laura, I took Cora with me to Camden's house so she could play with Isaac.." He says quietly, and the Sheriff reaches out before pulling back when he notices Derek flinch.

"Isaac and Camden Lahey?" He asks, and Derek nods.

"Okay, continue." Derek glances over at the cop standing behind the Sheriff. He looks neutral, but he's towering over them and it's making Derek nervous.

"After that we headed home for dinner.. And then I did my homework, I guess. And then I went to bed." He shrugs, and the Sheriff frowns.

"You went to bed? Nothing else happened?" He asks, and Derek tries to grasp at some sort of clue.

"Uh, no. My sister, Cora has night terrors. She screamed, and I went to check on her.. I don't remember going back to bed." He tells him with a shake of his head, then looks between both Stilinskis'.

"Where is everybody? My mom should be storming around here by now." He mumbles, and the Sheriff makes an aborted noise that dies in his throat. But that doesn't stop the cop behind him.

"Your family was caught in a fire, there were no survivors."

_No survivors._

It was like everything he stood for, everything in his life up to this point had crumbled and he'd been dropped onto his head. He blinks up at the officer, totally dumbstruck. Because his entire family was dead, dead. Gone. It was like everything went completely numb for a second, before everything started to catch up. His chest hurt, before the hyperventilating started, and then he was caught in a fog of pain and lack of oxygen. Everything was gone, everyone was dead. No more goodnight hugs for Elliot and Cora, no more laughing with his sister. No more having his father embarrass him, no more of his mom's laugh. Nothing.

Nothing mattered anymore, because everyone was gone.

Suddenly he's wrapped around a body, it's a bit smaller than his so he believes it to be Stiles. Sobs are wracking his body, along with tremors that build through his core and outwards. He clutches to the boy's back, hides his face against his neck and tries to drown out his heart monitor with his cries. Stiles is the only thing tying him to the Earth, holding him tight enough to keep him in reality. He starts to get that sleepy feeling from before, and when Stiles pulls away to settle him back against the bed he sees the nurse screwing with the dial on his IV.

John's shoving the other cop out the door, looking angry, but it didn't matter. Because eyes were slipping shut and all the sounds around him muffle and then there's silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the rest of the chapters will be as long as this one.. But I can make no promises, there's more to come!


	4. Easing The Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles gives Derek a way to stop thinking and drone everything out for a little while.

Derek spends the next few days in silence, well not complete silence.. The heart monitor annoyed him to no end, but his nurse (Melissa, he finally asked) said that was the only way they could watch him. Because apparently the amount of stress his body was under needed to be monitored, so basically they're just waiting for another anxiety attack to happen. He should be leaving soon, but they're just making sure everything is dealt with and put together.

The Sheriff had come back and apologized for everything, especially for one of his men blurting something out like that. Derek shrugged it off, accepted the apology and promptly ignored him until he left. He just didn't want to talk, he wanted to sulk in his hospital bed and mourn his losses. And it seemed that's what people just weren't putting up with. Camden came by to visit him, brought him some flowers and talked his ear off about how much he's missed and who screwed who at school. Not only that, but he touched Derek twice, didn't even notice the way he cringed and just kept talking.

Stiles came by again after a while, and it was nice. It wasn't awkward, he didn't try to touch Derek, it was okay. He was sort of quiet, which was a contrast to the memories of Spanish class. He never shut up, but now he was completely silent while they watched TV. After a while, he looked over at Derek.

"You know, when I was eight, my mother died." The words freeze him, why would he share something like this? They're just staring at each other, Stiles looks so calm.

"She had this thing called Frontotemporal Dementia. Terrible thing to have, she went through a lot of torture because of it." Stiles sighs, leans back in his chair and looks a little sad. The TV is playing on, but it still seems quiet.

"I was there the night she died, my dad was working. It was hard to deal with, I was eight. I wanted my mom back, nothing was fair." He explains, eyes holding that same passion from before.

"I started getting panic attacks." That threw Derek for a curve, he didn't expect that.

"So I know how scary it is, I understand. That means that we have that in common, and you can talk to me about anything." Stiles tells him, and waves his hand out in front of him before patting his arm. Derek doesn't flinch as bad when he sees it coming, Stiles must have noticed.

"So, Melissa tells me you've become agitated with everyone. Even my dad." Okay Derek does feel a little guilty for ignoring them, but it's his right to.

"Don't look so upset, if something like that was dropped in my lap, I'd be ready to ignore the world. But you're doing it wrong." He leans down and starts digging in his back, Derek frowns when he pulls out a pair of headphones and a small little iPod.

"I thought you might like this, I wasn't sure what sort of music you liked.. But I thought you'd appreciate some loud stuff to block everyone out." He hands them to him, and Derek stares down at them.

"Why are you so worried about me?" Derek whispers, and looks up at the boy. Stiles frowns, crossing his arms and pursing his lips.

"Because when you disappeared, I thought to myself how lonely you'd feel when you came back.. After being around so many people for so long, sorry for bringing it up but.. I just thought that you could use a friend that can talk your ear off when you need it." He smiles lightly, and Derek finds himself smiling back.

"Thank you, I appreciate it." He murmurs, sets his headphones off to the side and settles on talking to each other. Not about family, but about school, and recent events. Favorite things, etc. It's nice, a good distraction. He quite likes having Stiles around, it's good to have someone his age to talk to.

Stiles leaves with a goodbye, and makes him promise to come around his house after he's released. Derek lays back and turns on his music, Stiles was right, it's a good distraction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so might as well go with the inspiration as it comes to me.. I guess that means writing a lot of chapters in barely 2 days.


	5. Worse Than Before

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek's placed in the custody of a distant cousin that has no idea what he's doing.

Melissa explains to him that they've contacted his closest relative. Derek has met him a few times, and when the family gets together for big holidays he's usually there. His name is Thomas, and he's a really nice guy.. A little dimwitted, but ultimately nice. So he shows up while Derek's standing at the front desk talking to Melissa, Derek spots him immediately. He's a bit taller than Derek, with the same dark hair as most of the family, but with blue eyes instead of green.

He's wearing a cargo jacket with a white t-shirt and jeans, along with some ratty sneakers. He hurries over, and before Derek can even say anything, he's being hugged.

"Oh my God, Derek... The rest of the family has been so worried about you.." His arms are trapped beneath Thomas' and there's a hand stroking at the back of his neck. It's too much, his brain short circuits and he panics. So within seconds, Thomas is knocked away onto the floor and Derek is pressed with his back against the counter.

It's like everything muted out, and all that's left is this annoying whistling noise that rings in his ears as he tries to shake off the phantom hands running along his body. Derek starts to come down from whatever that was, he's still staring at Thomas, who's getting up and looking confused. Melissa is talking behind him, and Thomas suddenly looks apologetic.

"Oh I'm sorry, you know how I am.. I don't think about things, it's really good to see you Derek." He sighs, smiling gently and clasping his hands together as if trying to prevent himself from hugging Derek again.

So he waits as Thomas talks to Melissa, and Melissa gives him two bottles of pills. She tells him the blue pills are painkillers, and the yellow pills are sedatives for when he can't get to sleep.

"Now don't rely on them too much, but if you try really hard and can't get to sleep then you take one. They're strong." She explains to him, and he nods and takes the bottle.

"You can take two blue pills whenever your arm starts to hurt, but it shouldn't be too bad. If the pain persists for a while then you should probably come back." He takes the other bottle and nods again. "Thanks Melissa." He tells him, and she smiles brightly.

"By the way, Stiles left this for you." She hands him a paper, which has a small note from Stiles on it.

_Hey Derek, I just want you to know that Melissa told me you're staying with some guy you barely know. So feel free to come around my house if you're feeling alone or whatever. If you need anything, do not hesitate to call me at this number. And I've put my address too. Take care, and come by any time!_

Underneath is an address and a number, Derek smiles. "Okay, thanks." He folds up the paper and puts it in his pocket.

In the car, Thomas looks over at him. "So uh, what happened?" He asks, and Derek looks away.

"What do you mean?" He mumbles, and Thomas shrugs.

"You were gone for a while, and you're pretty beat up. You can't stand people touching you..." He sighs, and Derek feels trapped once more, under scrutiny.

"Nothing. I don't want to talk about it." He says quietly, and Thomas nods.

"Okay." He relents, and Derek can breathe easy again.

-

They get to Thomas' house, which is a decent one. There's another car parked out front, and Thomas explains he has a girlfriend that's been living with him for a while. Thomas has a kid too, from a past marriage that ended badly, named Trevor.

When they open the door, little Trevor peeks around the corner.

"Uncle Derek!" The boy smiles, but stands a few feet away from him. Derek is oh so grateful that the kid is terribly shy, and didn't enjoy hugs too much himself.

A woman walks into the hall, she has dark blonde hair and blue eyes. She smiles brightly at him, and offers her hand.

"Hi, I'm Ariel." She tells him, and he takes her hand gently and shakes it.

"It's nice to meet you.. You have a nice name." He observes awkwardly, and she grins.

"Thank you very much, Derek." She laughs, and Derek finds that he doesn't mind her too much. She's a woman, so it'll be hard to like her.. But he likes Melissa, so he can like Ariel too.

Trevor is quiet, yes, but not around Derek. He talks nonstop after a few minutes, about his toy trucks and cartoons. The seven year old is a motor mouth, sort of like Stiles but more annoying. Eventually, Derek goes back to his room to unpack. It's a nice room, a queen bed with a simple dresser and a closet. He reclines back on his bed and listens to his music. Pulling out his phone (the one Thomas gave him), and the piece of paper he received from Melissa, he types in Stiles' number.

 **To Stiles:  
** _Hey, it's Derek. Just got home._

He stares at the phone for a minute, then gets a text back.

 **From** **Stiles:  
** _Hey, heard about the scene your cousin made. You okay?_

 **To Stiles:**   
_Yeah, fine. Thomas has a girlfriend and a kid. The kid reminds me of u, never shuts up._

 **From** **Stiles:  
** _Hardy har_ , _you want to come over 4 dinner?_

 **To Stiles:** _I'll ask._

Derek walks into the living room where Trevor is playing with his trucks on the floor and making the appropriate engine noises. Thomas and Ariel are sitting on the couch.

"Hey, can I go over to a friend's house for dinner?" He asks, and Thomas gives him a funny look.

"Why?" Derek wasn't expecting that, he shuffles his feet.

"Because he invited me over for dinner, and visited me a lot in the hospital." He explains, and Thomas frowns.

"Are you sure? I don't know if you should be going out just yet.." He tells him, and Derek frowns right back.

"I'm not contagious or dangerous, you do know that right? Getting kidnapped isn't a disease." He huffs, and Thomas scowls.

"Well we weren't even sure you _were_ kidnapped in the first place. You disappeared at a convenient time." He sounds a little accusing.

"Are you accusing me of murdering my family?" He asks, fists clenching up.

"No, I'm just saying that you just got back.. And you shouldn't be so well adjusted already. I'm just saying, it's odd." He shrugs, and Derek turns away.

"I'm sorry you expected me to cry at your feet and beg for you to comfort me.. But considering I barely know you, that's not gonna happen.." He huffs, walking to the front door.

"I didn't expect that, I expected a broken kid in need of someone to take care of him.. But instead I get Mr. High and Mighty, who won't even discuss where he was for the last ten months." He snaps, and Derek opens the door.

"For your information, I was raped." He says sharply, slamming the door and taking off.

-

He runs for a while, just running. The October air is crisp and cool as he makes his way towards Stiles' house. He finds the street, and then the house. He stands outside for a while, just trying to get himself together. His face is wet with tears and his entire body is shaking, he can barely even hold the phone correctly to text Stiles.

 **To Stiles:  
** _I'm outside._

He wipes at his face a little more and steels himself as he walks up to the door. It swings open, and Stiles is smiling at him. The smile soon falls though, and his amber eyes look at him with concern. "What happened, what's wrong?" He asks, pulling Derek inside.

"Nothing, just a fight with my cousin.." He shrugs, using his shirt sleeve to wipe at his eyes.

"God, you're out for one day and you've already gotten into a fight?" He asks, tugging him over to the couch and sitting him down.

"I asked him to come over, and he said it was weird that I was so well adjusted already. Hinting at the fact that nobody knows what happened but me, and that everything was 'odd'" He explains, and Stiles makes an outraged noise.

"He tried to accuse you of killing your family?!" He shouts, and when Derek cringes he winces.

"Sorry, I just.. That makes me angry, really angry. What did you say?" He questions, and Derek runs his hand through his hair.

"I told him that I wasn't going to cry to him for comfort.. And when I left, I told him I was raped then ran off.. Literally, I ran six blocks." He sighs, and Stiles makes a move to reach for him but stops short.

"I'm not gonna do it, but imagine me hugging the shit out of you." He says, sounding frustrated. And that makes him smile lightly, some of the pressure lifting from his chest.

"Okay, you can hug me... But try not to stroke or touch me in any way that resembles a caress." He instructs, and Stiles nods.

Stiles pulls him into his arms, hands firm at his shoulder blades. They're different from _hers_ , stronger and bigger. Stiles smells like mint toothpaste and some sort of deodorant that's not too overpowering but just enough. Then they pull back, and Stiles smiles.

"I feel much better, don't you?" He chuckles, and Derek nods.

"Yeah, yeah I do." He smiles.

"My dad will be home in an hour or so. Hope you like spaghetti." He says, getting up and heading to what Derek think is the kitchen.

"You cook?" Derek asks, and the aroma coming from the pot he's stirring is just amazing. 

"Oh yeah, dad works a lot so unless I wanted to eat cereal for the rest of my young life.. I needed to learn." He snorts, and Derek nods.

"Understandable." He leans back against the counter.

"Do you think you'll like living with your cousin?" Stiles asks suddenly, and Derek frowns.

"I dunno, he's kinda nice but he doesn't know when to give up." He explains, and Stiles nods.

"Well, you're welcome to run over here when he's being a complete asshat." He tells him.

"Yeah, thanks." He sighs, and Stiles turns to look at him.

"I mean it... He gives you any shit, you come over here. Your mental state is wrecked, you don't need any of his verbal abuse." He huffs, and Derek nods. "Okay."

Stiles holds out a spoon with sauce on it. "Does it need more salt?" He asks seriously, and Derek laughs before tasting it.

"Wow, that's amazing. Who'd have thought the spaz from Spanish class is a master chef?" He smirks, and Stiles hits him with an oven mitt playfully.

"You should taste my desserts, those are the best." He explains with a small smile.

"I can't wait." Derek grins back at him.


	6. Polite Dinner Conversation Gone Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles attempts to tell his father about Thomas' verbal lashing towards Derek.

In about twenty minutes, Stiles' father gets home. He doesn't look surprised to see Derek, so he was probably in on inviting him to dinner. 

"Derek, good to see you." He smiles, offers his hand to shake. Derek takes it and smiles gently.

"And you, sir." He says quietly, before sitting down at the table next to Stiles. 

John sits across from them, and they serve themselves before the talking starts up. John looks up at the both of them, smiles lightly.

"So, Derek how are you liking your cousin's house? I'm sure it must be odd for you to live there.." He says slightly awkwardly. 

"Thomas is a-" Stiles gets kicked hard under the table before he finishes, and Derek gives him a fake warning smile.

"Thomas is okay, he's got a kid too.. And a girlfriend.." He explains with a smile a little too forced. John gives another awkward smile, nods and looks down at his food.

"So, you've gotten settled in then?" John asks, and Derek nods and twirls his fork a bit to scoop up spaghetti and puts it in is mouth so he doesn't have to talk again.

After dinner they watch a baseball game, Stiles isn't too interested but Derek misses baseball and John likes it too. So he sits pouting while Derek and John talk terms and cheer for their team. Suddenly the phone starts ringing, John doesn't hesitate to grab it off its cradle and hit a button, pressing it to his ear.

"Hello, yes?" He calls, still staring at the screen. Stiles watches his face slowly grow confused, and he peers over at Derek, who's still smiling at the screen. 

"No, he's right here... I'll call you back.." He says quietly, and hangs up.

"Derek, did you tell your cousin you were coming here?" John asks, muting the game, Derek looks over at him with confusion. 

"What? Yeah, I told him." He answers, and John sighs.

"Well your cousin just reported that you ran away and he couldn't find you... And that he was worried for your own safety and well-being, or lack thereof." He says with an A+ dad look in Derek's direction... That expression that just said 'you're in so much trouble'. 

"Bullshit, I told him I was going to a friend's house... And he got mad because I was 'too well adjusted', who the fuck says that even? So I left, because he started yelling.." He scoffs, before standing up. 

"Dad, can I talk to you?" Stiles offers him a look, and the Sheriff rolls his eyes. He points a hand at Derek, who's standing with his arms crossed.

"You, stay right there... Don't move." He says, and Derek gives a small nod as they both walk into the kitchen.

"Dad, I tried to tell you at dinner.. The guy's a total dick, he told Derek he shouldn't be going out so soon.. That he was too well adjusted and that it was suspicious that he went missing right before the fire.." Stiles exclaims softly, waving his hands around in a wild gesture.

"Okay, I admit that's very unfair but Thomas is Derek's legal guardian so he can't just run away to our house.." He says with a sigh.

"Why not?! He ran six blocks and showed up crying and shaking, dad... I thought he was gonna puke or pass out, maybe both.." He mutters, runs a hand through his hair with a glance towards the doorway.

"My hands are tied, son.. Unless there's serious problems, I can't do anything.. If you think Derek's mental health is at stake, get him to film a fight and we might be able to get him removed.." He explains, and Stiles gives a grunt of frustration and kicks a chair weakly.

"Okay.." He relents, and John nods. 

"All right, then.. Let's get Derek home." He tells him, they walk back into the living room.

Only problem is, Derek's gone.

The door is wide open, and he's gone.

"Shit." Stiles curses.


	7. The Priorities Of One Thomas Hale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Search and Rescue

Derek runs because he doesn't want to go back, he wants his family and his house.. He wishes desperately to go back to how it was before. He hears a car coming down the road, so he turns off into the woods and keeps going. It's getting dark, harder to see as the sun disappears in the distance and the trees cast eerie shadows on the forest floor. But Derek doesn't stop, he keeps running because it gives him control. He doesn't have to stop, he can do what he wants. Running reassures this, and soon enough he's stopped in the dark, hunched over and panting. 

Everything is blurring together in darker shades of night, he turns back and looks at the way he came. Did he ever turn, or was he going straight? How was he going to get back? Maybe he shouldn't, maybe he should be left alone to die. He slumps down to the ground against the tree, pulls his hood over his head and tucks his hands into his hoodie pocket. The crickets were starting to chirp, it was very quiet and calm around him. 

Derek sits for a few minutes, listening to the hum of insects and the cool breeze that's beginning to edge on cold as the sun's warmth runs out. The lull of white noise soon makes his eyes droop with exhaustion. Maybe he'd rest for a few minutes, then head back... 

"I FOUND HIM"

His eyes snap open, and he's met with the beam of a flashlight in his eyes. Derek squints and looks away, coming back to the cold reality. Seriously cold, he thinks to himself, his fingers painfully numb and his body shivering. The ground beneath him is dry and hard, freezing beneath his jeans. He looks up and finds Stiles standing in front of him, looking worried as he crouches down. 

"Hey, man you okay?" He asks softly, reaching out and resting a hand on his shoulder gently.

Derek's not sure what exactly gets into him, but it blocks up his chest with bricks and barricades his throat to where he can't speak. He scares himself when he emits a small hiccup, warm tears running down his wind-bitten cheeks. 

"I don't wanna go back, Stiles.. I want to go home. I want my mom and dad!" He sobs, Stiles drops fully onto his knees.

He slumps against Stiles and grips at the back of his hoodie, he's warm and his scent is already programmed into him as comforting. Stiles rubs at his back firmly, patting gently before leaning back. His face is barely visible in the dark, but there's a glimmer from the moonlight and he can see a glimpse of those beautiful brown eyes staring at him. Derek sniffles softly, wipes at his face.

"You don't have to go back. You can sleep over tonight, okay? Here, stand up." Stiles' hands are pain inducing to his own numb palm. The other boy hisses quietly as Derek stands.

"Your hand is like ice... We're over here!!" He shouts when a beam of light surfaces in the trees. A cop appears with the Sheriff in tow, who sighs in relief at the sight of him. He claps Derek on the shoulder with a small smile.

"You scared the hell out of me, son.. Don't do that again, I've got enough heart problems already." He tells him, and Derek nods feebly as Stiles winds a warm hand between his arms and across the small of his back.

"Dad, Derek wants to stay the night.. He doesn't want to go back to Thomas' house." Stiles says, looking equipped and ready to defend that statement to the death.

"Jeez kid.. You want to spend the night, you don't have to cause a manhunt to do so.." John chuckles goodheartedly, and nods. "Okay." He says.

They walk back to the Sheriff's car, and Stiles climbs into the back with Derek, holds his hands in his own to warm them. Derek keeps his head down, listens to the music playing idly in the background with the occasional announcement from the police radio. Soon enough they're back at the house, and Thomas' car is in the driveway. Derek shoots a pleading look at Stiles, who gives him a knowing look and gives an assuring nod. 

They climb from the car and go inside, where Thomas is sitting on the couch. He looks relieved to see Derek, and stands up to walk over to him. Derek braces himself for an unavoidable and uncomfortable hug, but suddenly Stiles is standing between him and his cousin. 

"You're lucky I don't beat your ass." He snaps, and Thomas' eyebrows crinkle together in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" The older man asks, squinting his eyes in annoyance. 

"I'm talking about the fact that you were the reason for Derek running away in the first place! He could have gotten hurt in the dark!" He exclaims, shoulders raised and tense.

"I'll admit we fought a little, but that was no mean for him to run off like a petulant child!" Thomas argues, and Stiles makes a huffing noise.

"I don't suppose you're an expert on the mind of victims of long term kidnapping.. Do you even realize that your cousin is going through one of the hardest things to deal with and you're doing nothing but making it worse?" He questions, and Thomas frowns.

"Well, he's safe now.. He has nothing to worry about." He says quietly, and Stiles pulls a fist back.

Derek yanks on his arm though, pulls him back and hugs him tight from behind so he doesn't do anything rash.

"MR. JOHN!" He calls, and the Sheriff walks through the door hurriedly. Stiles squirms in his grip, still glaring at Thomas but not forcing his way from Derek's arms, fearful of hurting him. Derek's fingers grip his cast, muscles trembling at the pure strength he suddenly has. 

"Derek, it's fine.. Let me go." Stiles sighs, and Derek relents. Stiles pats his arm gently and turns back to Thomas. 

"Get out, Derek tells me you do one more thing wrong.. I'll find you, and they won't be able to tell if what's left of you is human or not." He huffs, and Thomas rolls his eyes.

"Sheriff." He says with a nod, and John nods in return.

"Stiles, take Derek upstairs and show him the guest room." He says, and Thomas stops them. "I brought your medicine." He explains quietly, handing Derek the two bottles. 

"Thanks." Derek offers a small smile, and heads upstairs with Stiles.


	8. Heartfelt Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and Stiles get ready for bed, Stiles talks because Derek doesn't want to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Again, I said this on my other fic.. I am so dead from school, it's kicking me right in the ass. I'm sorry I haven't had time to update. Hope you enjoy!)

Derek borrows some pajamas from Stiles, the sweatpants are a little short on him, but the shirt fits good. He brushes his teeth with a spare toothbrush Stiles had stowed away in a package in a cabinet. His eyes are bruised from lack of sleep, and even though he's dead tired he knows he won't be sleeping much tonight. He's a guest, he refuses to burden Stiles and his father with his night terrors..

 

Stiles is sitting on the guest bed when he gets back, looking awkward but insistent on staying where he is.

 

"We have to talk." He tells Derek, who shrugs and sits down cross-legged on the bed facing Stiles.

 

"You can't run off like that anymore, okay? You're just making this all worse. You don't have to run, or hide.. This house, is your safe zone for as long as you like.." He explains, and Derek nods, observing the plaid pattern of his pajama bottoms in favor of looking Stiles in the eyes.

 

"I mean it, Derek.. You're completely safe. I won't push you to talk, or make you do anything you don't want to.." He tells him, and Derek nods again.

 

"Well I can see you're not really in a chatty mood... But I know I can't sleep unless I know you're at least a little more okay than before.." Stiles sighs.

 

"I'm fine.." He grunts out, grabs his bottles and shakes out two painkillers. He takes the bottle of water that was sitting beside the bed and downs the pills with a small sip of water. The cold makes his wrist ache, he learns that night..

 

"I'm right across the hall if you need anything.." Stiles says, still not getting up off the bed.

 

"I know." He says softly, and Stiles sighs.

 

"Okay.." He reluctantly gets up, turns off the light, leaving only the light of the lamp and the light in the hall to illuminate his room a bit.

 

"Hey, Stiles?" He says before he can shut the door. Stiles pauses, looks back.

 

"Yeah?" He murmurs, and Derek gives him a half-hearted smile.

 

"Thanks for putting up with my shit.." He whispers, and Stiles grins.

 

"Thanks for letting me." He snorts, and closes the door. Derek lays back on his bed, thoughts still racing through his mind...

 

This was gonna be a long night.

 

 


	9. Cold Stone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek visits his family's graves after a therapy appointment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( You guys wanted it, it's gonna be a bit weird considering my writing has improved and changed slightly since I last wrote on this story. But I live to please! Welcome back to Presumed Missing, which has been reopened! )

**_Her lips are smooth against his shaky flesh, promising gentleness that her clawed hands seem to betray. She says things that don't make sense, talks in a way that makes him think differently. In a way that makes him question everything, leaning into her words until he's just begging for some sort of answer that he'll never get._ **

 

"Derek?"

 

He peers up at the man sitting in the desk just a few feet in front of him. He's got rectangular little glasses that dip a little low on his nose, kind blue eyes and black hair that's been dashed with silvery grays. His hands are folded on the desk, looking at him with curiosity, not scrutiny.

 

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" He asks softly.

 

"You zoned out for a bit there, what were you thinking about?" The man, Dr. Reardon ('Call me Simon'), inquires.

 

"Nothing really, just a bit tired." Simon doesn't look too convinced, but he shrugs and offers a small smile.

 

"I can understand that, it's been a rough few weeks." The man comments, he nods in agreement. "You and your uncle getting along again?" He nods once more, staring down at his hands that are clasped together. He observes his nails, which are bitten and chewed to the very end, he always hated that habit... Now he couldn't help himself.

 

"That boy you mentioned, Sheriff's son? Stiles, was it?" The man adjusts a small trinket on his desk, then writes something down on his notepad. "Have you talked to him lately?"

 

"We've been texting, but I haven't seen him since..." His voice trails off slightly.

 

"Since the night you ran off." Simon finishes for him, sighing without judgment. "You ran out of there as soon as you could, didn't even say goodbye. Any particular reason?"

 

Derek offers a wry smirk, finding the reason now to be a little petty and martyr-like. "It was stupid." He grumbles, picks at a nail since it's bitten down to the quick.

 

"Obviously it wasn't then, but I'm glad you can see the error of ways from a distance." He still wasn't sure what to make of this guy, he low key pissed Derek the hell off.. But at the same time, he was pretty chill about everything.

 

"I'm not anyone's problem, or burden... I don't need Stiles to look out for me like I'm some sort of charity case." He explains bitterly, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his thighs.

 

"Nobody said you were, did they?" Thomas chose some words that weren't exactly the best, but he had never called Derek a burden... No, that was something... Something else entirely.

 

"No." His voice sounds a little hollow, but it's better than the words he couldn't say. Two simple words. _She did_.

 

He's not exactly sure why she still gets to him late at night, words in his mind flipping things about and sending him into silent breakdowns. Her words were true obviously, he was still hers. If that was true, then everything else must be too.

 

"Derek."

 

He looks up again, Simon is frowning slightly at him.

 

"Sorry." He mutters.

 

"Don't apologize, my friend. Spacing out for a moment is better than checking out for longer than that." He still wasn't sure if he was talking about suicide when he said that, which really, was that a topic he needed to bring up? 

 

It was shameful almost, an itch of his hands, a stifled smoke in his lungs. Something that just whispered to him.

 

_Do it_.

 

There was no proper reason, he was safe and sound in his home town. Except everything was wrong and turned around, people stared and whispered, his home life had been ripped away from him. He wasn't thinking about ending his life, but the life of this miserable creature living in a terrible nightmare.

 

"Have you ever thought about the afterlife, Simon?" Derek asks after a good pause of silence, the man looks intrigued and possibly a little sad.

 

"I try not to dwell on things so far in the future. Extremely far, in your case, I hope." Simon says quietly.

 

"But what do you think it's like?" The teen presses.

 

"I dunno, we never will until we experience it. Could be nothing, could be something... Perhaps it's what the Bible describes or a whole new concept unlike any other imagined." The man leans back in his chair. "The point is that it's not your problem right now, you shouldn't be dwelling on things such as that. You should be out living life, not thinking about death." He informs Derek, who sighs heavily.

 

"It's about to become my problem considering you're starting to bore me into the afterlife with that speech." He comments with a small smile, Simon lets out an amused huff.

 

"It's almost time for our session to end, so I'll leave you with this. Worrying about death is pointless and dim, every life ends eventually, but every life has to mean something. Everyone can have purpose, reason, an effect on others. If you weren't around, what would everyone else be doing?"

 

"Having a life." Derek answers easily.

 

"No, think hard, Derek. Take everything you've ever done for anybody. Everything so miniscule and almost meaningless, put it all together. If none of that happened, or continued to happen, then a certain chain of things would not occur." Simon explains, which really, he's just making things sadder.

 

"So I smile at someone and they smile at someone and then someone else has a good day and they meet their soul mate?" He huffs, unamused.

 

"No, you help an old lady with her groceries and she doesn't drop the things she can barely afford in the first place. You help someone at school who feels like nobody cares. You walk a girl home and they don't get mugged. You offer your home to someone who doesn't have one anymore." The words make Derek's heart stutter.

 

Stiles, he's talking about Stiles.

 

"So what, Stiles helped me." He mutters.

 

"But what if he didn't? Where would you be?"

 

He wants to deny it, but his mind whispers the truth.

 

_Dead_.

 

He wouldn't have lasted this long.

 

"You could be someone's Stiles, Derek. You could save a life, change one. It's not hard. People do it all the time, doesn't take but a smile or a good deed."

 

"So what, the lesson is to be a good Samaritan?" He huffs.

 

"The lesson is that, if death is so meaningful to you, then why would you care about other's lives? Saving others from death, helping them, rescuing them.. From what?"

 

"Death?" Derek guesses.

 

"Would you care if Stiles died?"

 

He doesn't hesitate. "Of course."

 

"Then don't think that Stiles wouldn't think the same about yours. Death may mean something eventually, but right now it's the enemy. Don't work on death's side unless you're willing to accept the loss of everyone around you." Simon tells him with conviction, and in some weird way, it helps. This guy is a whack job. "So from now on, when you feel that darkness dragging you under. You think of Stiles or anyone you care for feeling that, and if you would help them then that makes Death a mutual enemy."

 

"Death is the enemy." Derek repeats with a little less enthusiasm.

 

"You look that personification of a state of life in the eye and you tell him 'Not today, I have work to do.'" The man tells him with a wag of his finger.

 

"Okay..." He agrees hesitantly.

 

"Say it then." Simon pushes.

 

"Not today... I have work to do." He mutters with a frown.

 

"Again."

 

"Not today, I have work to do."

 

"Stiles needs your help, you're in bed moping."

 

"Not today, I have work to do."

 

"A little boy is stuck in a tree with nobody around and you're at home feeling sorry for yourself."

 

"Not today, I have work to do." It feels a little easier to say.

 

"There's always work to do. That work won't be completed until you've done everything you can. You'll help everyone, right?"

 

"Everyone I can." He nods quietly.

 

"That includes yourself, Derek. Be kind to yourself, most of all. You are not a burden, you are a savior in your own way. You can't help anyone if you aren't well."

 

Damn, this dude seriously took a really long route to get to a simple solution.

 

"Was this a PSA because I feel like I just took part in a cheesy commercial." Derek tells his therapist, who grins.

 

"Your mind works in a different way now, I have to get its attention somehow." Simon chuckles.

 

"Could have just said 'Don't do anything harsh' or 'Take care of yourself'." He says as he stands.

 

"That too. But remember, death is the enemy for now." He says with a tap to his own temple.

 

"Work to do, cats to save, old ladies to assist." Derek finishes with a wave of his hand and a laugh, stepping out of the room. And as always, he feels a bit lighter than he did going in. The guy was like some sort of sorcerer.

 

"Hey, can we stop by the cemetery?" He asks when he gets into the car, Thomas frowns at him, but agrees.

 

-

 

Derek strolls between the graves, runs his fingers along the cold stone that was slightly damp from a recent rain. The afternoon heat was kicking in, so everything was a little muggy, but he had to do this. He sits down in the slightly wet grass, right in front of the double headstone that held his mother and father's names on it.

 

"Hey..." He whispers, tears already pricking his eyes. "You're looking well." He jokes, making himself give a watery laugh.

 

"Just kidding, I just wanted to make sure you knew where I was... I'm home again." He explains. "Well not really home, I'm staying with Tom. He's uh... He's family." He says simply, picturing his mother giving him an exasperated smile. "I miss you guys so much.." A few stray tears drip down his face, he traces his mother's name.

 

"But I'm doing this for you, hope it's worth it." He murmurs. "Just uh, save a spot for me? And this guy I know, him and his dad need a place too. Although, maybe Stiles' mom already has it covered. I hope so." Derek can't help but laugh softly once more.. "Stiles is.. He's really something. I don't have too many people around to help, but he makes up for it as much as he can."

 

"He can talk more than Laura and Cora combined, which is really saying something but I'm not joking because he's a chatterbox." He snorts. "When it really hurts, if it gets hard... He's there.. I feel like you guys hired him personally." He rubs a hand over his tear soggy face, sighing. "I should probably go... Next time I'll bring flowers." He explains, standing up.

 

"There's a field of wild flowers not far from here, they're pretty." Derek jumps at the voice, spinning around. Stiles stands before him, smiling shyly. He's got on a hoodie and jeans, his own eyes are red like he's been having a conversation with the dead. "Cemeteries aren't the brightest things, but flowers make it better. Talking, makes it better.. Even if they can't hear you." He shrugs, Derek offers a cautious nod.

 

"Sorry, I came creeping up on you during a private time. I just saw you and thought you seemed like you might need some company." The younger tells him sheepishly.

 

"Yeah, you always seem to figure that out somehow." He comments offhandedly, Stiles grins.

 

"Of course, if I couldn't read your mind then I wouldn't know much about you. You aren't really a chatterbox like me." He huffs goodheartedly, Derek scratches at his chest and laughs awkwardly.

 

"You heard that huh? Sorry, I'm new at this." He murmurs.

 

"Yeah, it's pretty hard." Stiles steps forward, hesitating slightly before sort of holding his arms out. Derek steps into them, burying his face against the other's shoulder and holding him tight. "It'll get better, I promise." Stiles whispers, hugging him back just as tightly. His body warms him to the core, keeping him grounded and feeling safe. He never wants to let go, they stand together for a second too long before parting.

 

"I should go, Thomas is waiting." Derek says quietly, Stiles nods. He turns to walk away, but then looks over his shoulder and finds Stiles still looking at him. "I'm sorry about running from the house..." He mumbles.

 

"It's all right, next time, stick around for breakfast. I make great chocolate chip pancakes." The teen smirks, Derek nods eagerly.

 

"Sounds like a plan." He agrees, walking back down the hill in the direction of the car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( Hope you enjoyed, please leave comments below if you did!!! )


	10. Worth It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek has been nothing but passive, when he snaps, it's brutal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( -Resurfaces from the darkness- Yes, I have returned to this fic. You've waited so very patiently. My inspiration had been dwindling for quite a while, but I'm still going to update whenever I can. )

The whispers in the school had died down, he wasn't really the talk of the town anymore, but that didn't mean he wasn't a social pariah. Nobody talked to him, or even stood too close to him. His old friends, excluding Camden, were completely avoiding him. He actually sort of wishes Camden would do the same, Derek was actually trying to stay away, but the guy was persistent.

 

He's talking about something Derek can't concentrate on, something unimportant. It's odd, the social status of other kids used to be such a big deal.. Now, after less than a year of time, those sorts of things seemed so miniscule to him. He's talking about Emily Winters dating Zane Truman, apparently they'd been on and off for a while or something like that.

 

What does it matter, anyway?

 

Derek puts his focus on his open locker, setting his bag down and pulling out his Physics notebook. Senior year was supposed to be easy, instead, he had a full set of classes to catch up. He had to repeat most of last years classes, he didn't have time to talk about the pointless lives of teenagers.

 

Camden's hand reaches out and smacks the notebook out of his hand, it skids across the smooth floor of the hall. Kids fall quiet, start murmuring together and looking at them. Derek walks across the hall, offering a tight nod to a girl, who cautiously steps back so he can stoop down to retrieve the book by her feet. He returns without a word, leaning down to shove the notebook into his bag. Then he rights himself and starts organizing his books according to hours.

 

"Can you at least act like you're interested in what I'm saying?" Camden huffs, Derek doesn't offer a reply. "You're so different now, you used to be fun." Which, okay, stings a little.. But he knows. Things are different, he's different. Life has a whole other meaning to him. He props his backpack on his knee as he presses it against the locker below his, putting two more notebooks and a text book inside the bag.

 

Camden snatches the bag from him, Derek turns his head and looks up at him for the first time since he got here this morning. He reaches out hesitantly, hands twitching nervously, Camden jerks his arm out of reach. Derek's hands slowly come together awkwardly, clasping each other and dropping in front of his crotch as he stares at his friend.

 

"Aren't you going to take it?" Camden asks, shaking the backpack a little. His eyes flicker over the black and gray bag, back over to Camden's slightly angry face. His shoulders lift in a small shrug, and then Camden's slamming the object into his chest with enough force to make him stumble back. He clutches it lightly, trying to gain control of his accelerating heart beat.

 

Camden makes a startled noise when he's slammed against the lockers with a loud metallic noise.

 

"You keep your fucking hands off of him." Stiles says, voice low and deadly, fists strained white where they grip the older boy's shirt collar. He's a different person almost, tense lines with eyes suddenly so much darker. Even though he's about an inch shorter than Camden, it's almost as if he's looming over the guy.

 

He steps back, letting out a deep exhale as he releases Camden, still glaring at him. There's some other kid standing behind Stiles, with a lopsided jaw and floppy brown hair. He's sending a small angry expression in Camden's direction as well. Must be a friend of Stiles.

 

"Of course, Derek loses his personality and the loser squad adopts him. Take him, he's too much of a downer for me anyway." It hits Derek hard for some reason, Camden has said a lot of things... Talked about how much he's changed, he's a different person, it all hurts... But for some reason it just makes him angry this time.

 

Then, he's suddenly atop of Camden's chest, punching him with abandon. Kids are screaming and jeering, having surrounded them in a tight circle. An arm wraps around his middle and tugs him to his feet, he stumbles back against their chest. Belatedly, he realizes that he's crying again, tears staining his cheeks with soft choking breaths.

 

Finstock is suddenly breaking through the crowd, dispersing everyone with a loud shout that makes Derek cringe and shrink back against the chest pressed against his back. There's a ringing in his ears, which is a common occurrence for a sort of overwhelming situation apparently. Simon called it 'Sensory Overload', and while it didn't always occur with touch, it happened often with loud sounds and overwhelming amounts of people. He felt a little like he was drowning at the moment, but suddenly he hears Stiles' voice in his ear.

 

"It's okay, breathe.. Everything's gonna be all right." He's just mumbling nonsense, but it still calms him, takes him down off of this almost painful adrenaline rush. He takes a moment to cough out an exhale, wiping at his messy face.

 

"Office, now." Finstock says, as Camden gets up and wipes the blood from his nose. "Stilinski, McCall, you too." He jerks a thumb behind him down the hall where the office is. The boy from earlier steps in front of Derek, leaning down and grabbing his bag off the floor, handing it to him with a kind smile. Derek takes the backpack and shrugs it over one shoulder, Stiles grasps a hand on his bicep and they walk to the office in silence.

 

-

 

 "Suspension?!" Stiles yells, outraged. "What about Camden? He was provoking Derek, whom I might add is a traumatized victim." He spouts with anger.

 

"While Camden's actions weren't very honorable, both you and Derek were the ones to become physical. Sticks and stones, gentlemen." Chris Argent, the vice principal explains to them.

 

"Sticks and stones my ass, Camden was shoving Derek around." Stiles argues, Mr. Argent glares at him.

 

"Sheriff..." The man mutters, John grabs Stiles by the shoulder and shoots him a warning look. He had to be called down because of this, along with Thomas, and Camden's dad. Camden's dad was silent, but he looked pleased by the decision.

 

"Derek is barely emotionally capable of standing up for himself! You can't suspend him for finally fighting back!" Stiles snaps.

 

"Mr. Hale, what is your opinion on this?" Argent inquires to Derek, who shrugs feebly.

 

"It's fitting." He mutters, Argent shoots a look at Stiles.

 

"Fitting?! Derek, you're emotionally compromised. Look at him, he's probably in shock!" Stiles flails about, which would be rather amusing if it weren't for the situation.

 

"I'm fine, Stiles." Derek says with a sigh, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "I started it." He admits, Stiles growls in frustration.

 

"Are we through here?" Mr. Lahey inquires, he was one scary old fucker. "I told you that he was no good." He wags a finger at Camden, then glares at Derek. "I should have seen it, you were no good to begin with. Stay away from my son." Derek's face is carefully blank, observing the man with an almost disinterest.

 

"Mr. Lahey, that'll be all." Chris is throwing a harsh stare in the older man's direction, Lahey is still glaring at Derek.

 

"You all watch your back, that boy is doing the devil's work." Lahey spits, before grabbing Camden by the arm and tugging him out of the office. Everyone's quiet for a moment, hesitant looks offered in Derek's direction.

 

"Der?" Stiles murmurs, Derek stands up and grabs his bag before shouldering it and walking out. Thomas shoots a confused look at the Sheriff before following the teen out.

 

Stiles really wants to talk to Derek, but he has to listen to his dad rant about assault for a minute or two on the way to the car. While he is digging for the keys to the cruiser, Thomas comes running up.

 

"Derek locked himself in the car." He says, looking worried and unsure. They follow him across the parking lot to Thomas' beat up old pick-up truck, where Derek sits in the driver's seat. His head is ducked down, pillowed by one arm on the steering wheel. John tries the door, true to Thomas' word, locked. He taps on the glass.

 

"Derek, son, open the door." No response. He looks to Stiles for help, who isn't sure himself what to do.

 

"Derek?" He calls just loud enough to hear, knocking on the window. "Derek, can we talk?" He asks. There's silence, but Stiles keeps trying. "Just me and you?" He raps on the glass once more, and Derek moves suddenly. He reaches across the console and unlocks the passenger door.

 

There's a collective group sigh of relief, Stiles hurries around the front of the truck and gets into the passenger seat. He closes the door behind himself and locks it, waving to his father, who takes Thomas off somewhere.

 

"Thanks." Derek sits hunched up over the wheel, head covered by his arms. "It was a dick move to suspend you. You freaked out." He murmurs.

 

Derek says something quietly, too quiet for Stiles to understand.

 

"What was that?" He whispers.

 

"I said I'm not crazy." His voice sounds a little raw, partially pissed off. "You act like I'm invalid, this wouldn't even be a problem if none of that had ever happened. I started a fight, I got suspended. I don't get out of shit just because I've had some bad things happen to me." He grits out.

 

"Derek, the fight wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the situation. Camden can't get it through his thick skull that things like that change people. It doesn't mean you're a bad person, or unimportant, of course. But you're different, and he deserved that beating for the bullshit he's been putting you through." Stiles tells him softly.

 

"Everything is the same except for me... How is that fair, Stiles? I wanted everything to go back to normal for so long, and then it is, but I'm different." His voice carries his heartbreak throughout the small truck cabin. His multi-colored eyes holding Stiles' in an intense gaze.

 

"I wish it could be normal, just the same.. As long as it'd make you happy." Stiles tells him certainly.

 

"Then I wouldn't have met you.." Derek replies quietly.

 

"I don't think it'd be worth it.. Maybe to me... But not to you." Stiles whispers.

 

"It's worth it, if I get to talk to you." Derek says shyly, Stiles' cheeks grow splotchy and red.

 

"R-Really?" He stammers, and then Derek inches closer to him. Stiles finds himself gravitating towards the other in the slightest bit.

 

"Can... Can I kiss you?" Derek murmurs, Stiles nods and suddenly there are hands on his cheeks, smashing their lips together in an awkward press. Stiles has to adjust them slightly, gentling the kiss when he reaches up and rests his hands on Derek's sides. Derek obviously isn't too experienced, Stiles on the other hand, has had some practice.

 

He doesn't want to get too intimate, fearful of triggering him. But the kiss deepens just a bit, heads tilting to the side. Stiles peeks one eye open, finding Derek's face scrunched in what looks to be concentration. He chuckles softly as they break apart.

 

"Was I that bad?" Derek's cheeks and ears turn a pinkish tint, looking unsure and averting his eyes.

 

"You just need a little practice.. That's all." He assures, Derek offers him a hesitant look.

 

"With you?" He inquires, Stiles grins.

 

"With me... If that's okay." He smirks, Derek nods.

 

"I'd.. Really like that.." He gives a small smile in return, gentle and happy with a pair of cute dimples.

 

"Come on, let's go find my dad and Thomas." They get out of the truck, Derek pulling the key from the ignition. When he meets Stiles on the other side, he holds out a hand cautiously. Stiles stares down at it for a moment, his fingers twitching, before reaching out and clasping their palms together.

 

"Worth it." Derek says softly as they walk through the parking lot.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( Hope you liked the chapter! Leave a comment, kudos, something to tell me how you felt about this new development! )


	11. And So It Was

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After all that tragedy and sadness, it really was worth it.

The bell rings, children line up in the hallways against the walls, a bunch of tiny bodies rushing with energy. He stands tall above them, scanning the crowd. He keeps his hands above his utility belt, propped on his hips.

 

"Daddy!" He spots two figures rushing around the corner, the smaller one leading the bigger by the hand. Both wear earsplitting grins, Stiles smirks and drops down into a kneel.

 

"Hey kiddos." He pulls his son and daughter into his arms, kissing their heads. "Where's papa?" He inquires, Lila quickly flails about to explain that he had gone to the bathroom. Dawson simply leans against his chest, smiling brightly. Dawson had always been a bit shy, while Lila was wild and loud.

 

"Okay well, go talk to your friends while I track him down." He watches his kids race over with a bunch of kids. Dawson was eight, quiet and thoughtful with intelligence filled brown eyes and a short trim of curls. Lila was a contrast, dark skinned with beautiful black hair that was drawn into two braids. The five year old was filled with energy, and loved her brother dearly despite his opposite personality.

 

"Hello Sheriff." A voice hums into his ear as hands wrap around his waist from behind, lips and a sharp scruff of hair press against his neck. Stiles turns his head, finding Derek's face centimeters away from his own.

 

"Hello Mr. Hale." He murmurs, pressing a small peck to his lips. "How was your day?" He asks quietly as Derek moves around and clasps their hands together.

 

"Pretty good. Alphabet, colors, juice boxes, naps." He answers with a smirk. Derek was possibly the most loved kindergarten teacher in the whole school, apparently.

 

"Sounds heavenly." He grins, Dawson suddenly comes trotting over and Derek picks him up with a small groan.

 

"Man, kid. I dunno if it's you getting bigger, or me getting older." He comments with a teasing smile, kissing the boy's cheek.

 

"Papa! Papa, today Trevor sneezed and burped at the same time!" Lila exclaims as she races over, Derek conceals an amused smirk and lifts her up, hitching the girl to his other hip.

 

"That's... Interesting." He snorts, kissing the girl on the cheek. "Ready to go?" He questions, both kids nodding their agreement.

 

"I want ice cream." Stiles says as they leave the front door. "How about you guys?"

 

"Yes! Yes, yes.. Please?!" Lila begs, giving her fathers the best of puppy eyes just as Dawson cheers "Yeah!" with bright excitement.

 

"Sounds good to me." Derek shrugs, setting the kids down to get into the car. He leans in to buckle Lila's car seat, but Dawson holds up a hand.

 

"I got it papa." He says seriously, struggles with the belt for a moment before clicking it into place with a proud smile.

 

"Thank you!" Lila crows, leaning out to kiss Dawson's cheek.

 

Derek gets into the driver's seat, smirking when Stiles clasps their hands together once more.

 

"I love you." They lean over the console and kiss, earning duel groans from the back seat.

 

"No grown up kisses!" Dawson scolds, they separate with grins.

 

Sure, their start had been rocky. Derek had been through some things, so had Stiles... But, now, on their way to get ice cream, things seemed perfect. Even if sometimes Derek had nightmares of his past, Stiles was there to pull him back. Even if he was scarred up, he had two beautiful adopted children that knew him as nothing but a kind father. Even with such a tragedy that smudges up his past, his future was nothing but bright.

 

"my boyfriend Josh-" they both tune in at the same time, to Lila's rambling, shooting each other an alarmed look.

 

"Boyfriend?!" They exclaim together, okay so, maybe not all bright.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( The end! Well, I hope you guys enjoyed! I was pretty satisfied with that ending to be honest. I can only imagine the heart attacks Stiles and Derek would suffer in Lila's teenage years. )


End file.
